UK remains ahead of electric car targets despite charging issues

During the third quarter of 2022, the total number of all kinds of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) on Britain’s roads reached 981,615, representing an increase of 78,559 over the previous quarter. Crucially, when set against the UK Climate Change Committee target for adoption, the cumulative figure reveals that the UK is currently ahead of the required adoption curve by 162,129 vehicles, as of the end of 2022.

The CCC’s target for the UK is that 55 percent of all light-duty vehicles should be battery-powered by 2032.

According to the Volkswagen Financial Services EV Tracker report, battery cars have outsold mild hybrids, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids across the year and by the end of 2022, battery cars were second only to petrol cars in the volume of sales across the whole market. 

The ULEV fleet size has continued to outpace the adoption curve at an ever-larger margin. 

The most recent gap – over 160,000 vehicles – contrasts that recorded just 12 months ago when the adoption gap stood at around 60,000.

READ MORE: Elderly motorists offered course to brush up on driving laws

The highest provision seen in the last quarter was in London at 6.1 units per 100,000 people, with the West Midlands close at six units.

At the end of February 2023, there were 38,982 electric vehicle charging points across the UK, across 23,066 charging locations. 

This represents a 33 percent increase in the total number of charging devices since February 2022, according to Zap-Map data. Mr Todd concluded, saying: “People may hold onto vehicles for longer or delay making the switch to an EV.  

“It will be interesting to see how motivation to make sustainable choices, increased model availability, a more buoyant second-hand EV market, and the reduction of prices in both the new and used EV market help the sector weather the financial storms of 2022, which show no signing of abating in 2023.”